Westview Orchard

 Although this past weekend was spent inside watching the Olympics opening ceremony/events and grabbing take out for dinner, we snuck out for an afternoon adventure on Saturday to a local orchard & cider mill. We had a great time laughing at the farm animals, especially before the thunder began and they all became just a little spooked. The baby goats especially won over our hearts, until they started chewing on our shoes, pants, and thinking the camera was food. We came home with fresh peaches & warm house made cinnamon and sugar donuts. It was a fun afternoon and I only wish we could come back in the fall for pumpkin picking, hay rides, and corn field mazes. 

Leopard Print Feet

If someone would have told me even last year that this summer I would be living in Michigan right now, I would've laughed. I read some blog entries early in our marriage and was laughing at the fact about how closed minded I was about the Mid West. I even wrote "NO MICHIGAN" in one of them. Thankfully, I grew up a little bit and became open minded to the idea of moving somewhere completely and totally different. With that, I would have never imagined it being almost August and wearing leopard slippers everyday because I find myself "cold". Or waking up to beautiful displays of lightening and loud rain pounding down on our balcony and BBQ. It has seriously been such a treat to be here during this beautiful time of year and enjoying the green & mild weather. It's even more crazy to think that our time here is almost coming to an end, and soon I will be living in California with my family again while Derek travels for clerkships from coast to coast. Maybe he should take the slippers for his long drives? I mean, they are his anyways.

Fueling Up

This is what it takes to get "reasonably" priced gas these days? 

Guess I will grab a Dr. Pepper, my kindle & put the car in park.

{P.S. Stupid Prius}

insta-life

Greenfield Village Take Two

For information about The Henry Ford or Greenfield Village click here.

Greenfield Village Take One

 Ever since moving to Michigan, Derek and I have been scouting out places that we believe are "must sees" before our short time here is up. The Henry Ford Museums were at the top of our list, and with Derek having a few days off this week, we took advantage and visited Greenfield Village. The village is over 80 acres of original buildings, machinery, and automobiles from all over the country and history that Henry Ford himself purchased and moved here to the Ford headquarters outside of Detroit. Included in this mass collection are Thomas Edison's labs and offices, the home & bike shop of the Wright Brothers,  a courthouse Abraham Lincoln practiced in, and countless numbers of homes from the 1600s and on. The village is set up into different places: Farmland, Main Street, Edison Square, Parlors & Porches, and Railroad Depot. We spent six hours, took over 200 photos, ate yummy Southern food, and found at least five old homes we deemed "perfect" for us one day.

Since we took so many pictures, a follow up post with even MORE photos will be up Friday. With even cuter houses. Seriously, I died and went to heaven here.

The OR

Derek was lucky enough to have spent almost every day last month in the OR. Weather it was observing, holding, cutting, or slicing, he was in there and loved every second. It was such a treat for him to come home and tell me all he saw, did, and sometimes smelled that day. Occasionally our dinner conversations revolved around toe/foot amputations, external fixations, and suturing, which is totally disgusting. Luckily, I have a very hearty appetite. 

In other news, we found out this week Derek was granted with this scholarship. We feel so blessed & are so thankful to have received it. 

Our 4th Fourth

 This year marked our fourth year spending the 4th of July together. We took a break from past busy years (Stadium of Fire in Provo, Engagement pictures in Carlsbad, and hosting a BBQ last year in Glendale) and spent the day with each other. Derek began his ER rotation this month, and has been very busy seeing a lot of interesting things that are keeping him late at the hospital. We slept in, enjoyed an afternoon movie & early dinner staying out of the excessive heat. It seemed as though Arizona was playing a joke on us being much cooler and way less humid then here in Michigan. We rounded out the evening with an ice cream and watching fireworks off our balcony with a few sparklers and a good cry {on my part} being ever so proud to be American.